| Author |
Message |
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Monday, December 02, 2013 - 5:59 pm 
How do I change my daughter's email address in Outlook.com? I have tried every button, icon, etc. I can think of. I googled it, and there are several different versions and guess it has changed. The webtv email was much easier to navigate.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 12:00 pm
Can't help you Heckagirl, sorry.
Not really a problem, but I was looking at the Microsoft Surface tablets - how do you figure out which one to buy? They run from $400 to $1800, what features are important to consider?
Any input/suggestions would be helpful, TIA.
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Lycanthrope
Member
09-19-2002
| Thursday, December 05, 2013 - 9:00 pm
Dipo, get 8.1, or you'll be in a world of computer crap. 8.1 just came out, and I can't vouch for it, but I've worked with a Win8 Tablet at work, and it can't be worse.
Don't get the Wedge mouse, you'll regret it.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Friday, December 06, 2013 - 2:55 pm
LOL, thanks Lycanthrope. I don't really need one yet but was looking at the prices.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Friday, December 06, 2013 - 9:25 pm
Dipo, Windows 8.1 is a free update from windows 8, so don't let windows 8 stop you from getting the device you want. You'll be able to update for free if you don't like it.
I enjoy windows 8, so it's so weird for me to see people saying they hate it. I think change is hard for some people, and I guess I can understand that. I'll be updating to 8.1 tomorrow just for the sake of being up to date.
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Lycanthrope
Member
09-19-2002
| Friday, December 06, 2013 - 10:06 pm
Windows 8 is fine in concept, and I love the touchscreen tablet. But I had a lot of problems with it until I got the 8.1 update. It could have been because it was a work device, and I put it through a lot, but the last week on 8.1 has been a lot smoother.
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Whoami
Member
08-02-2001
| Thursday, January 30, 2014 - 4:50 pm
For the past couple of weeks, I'm getting wierd "pop-up" type ads. I have the pop up blocker set in my IE tools. But this is a whole new window that pops up, and seems randomly driven by whatever I'm doing a search on, or what webpage I visit.
For instance, several of them are CBS ads for various shows. Others are ads telling me I need to update the latest flash drive or something. But I'm not about to click any of those links! These random windows always have a sort of "cloud like" looking icon on the task bar when it pops up. It's usually behind the window I'm looking at, but still intrusive cause it has sounds/music/etc that are annoying.
I think I read something about Windows having a messaging feature for network administrators to send texts to employees, and it was automatically enabled. And that pop up advertisers had figured out a way around pop up blockers by sneaking their way through this feature. One place I read had instructions on how to disable this on Windows XP. But I have Windows 7, and the instructions did not lead me to the right place.
Anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of this? And how is it suddenly showing up after all these years of having this computer? Probably something piggy-backed it's way in when I downloaded something, but I don't remember the last time I downloaded anything, unless it was an automatic Windows Update or something.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Thursday, January 30, 2014 - 9:39 pm
Whoami, I think your surmise is correct. I am finding nowadays that you have to be VERY careful when downloading anything, even something you absolutely trust to make sure you read EVERY screen of the download process, because they are sneaking stuff in right and left, and I am every so careful, ant I still get fooledbu
Do you have Malwarebytes and Spybot Search and Destroy downloaded and updated? Those are my workhorses for getting rid of strange stuff, They almost always cure all of my oversights, And, if those don't cure the problem, then I start paying attention to the specifics of what is happening and Googling that, and I always find it is happening to everybody and their dog, and somebody has a solution, and it is usually simple.
And good luck.
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Whoami
Member
08-02-2001
| Friday, January 31, 2014 - 4:06 am
I've already been Googling, that's where I saw the stuff about the messaging feature for admins to send texts. But so far all the instructions I've found are for Windows XP, which doesnt help me since I have Windows 7.
I'll look into that Malwarebytes. I used to have Spybot on my other computer. Forgot all about that with the anti-virus program I have now.
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Whoami
Member
08-02-2001
| Friday, January 31, 2014 - 1:04 pm
I think I figured it out. I had another pop up, and it had some ad that said, “by StormAlerts" in the status bar, and had that little cloud icon thing. So I Googled/researched it and saw that it wasn’t something I cared to have on my computer.
First suggestion was to download some sort of software that could zap it, and then scrolled down and saw that you could “manually” remove it (through your own uninstall programs on the computer). So I look in my programs and sure enough there it is.
On a whim, I sorted my programs by date to see what had been installed at the same time, so I could see what it had piggy backed it’s way in on.
For years, I’ve had “The Weather Channel Desktop Max," and earlier this month it stopped working. Came to find out that The Weather Channel had dropped it’s Desktop Max feature (along with several other ones), and I needed to “update” to “Desktop App.” I never figured I needed an “app" for a computer, but I guess since that’s the popular buzzword now, they had to rename it as such. 
So, I downloaded/updated on Jan 6, and apparently at the same time it installed StormAlerts, as well as two other programs (Wajam and WeatherMate). I’d noticed Wajam a few times annoying me when I was on Amazon and such. So I uninstalled that too. The original Desktop App was showing disabled, with another functional Desktop App showing functional and installed on Jan 16 (with no piggybacks on that same day). I do remember having to re-install the “app" when the first one had problems. I couldn’t find anything (in my research) on WeatherMate that looked unsavory, and I’d not had any annoying problems under it’s name. But since it was installed on the same day as the original “Desktop App" on Jan 6, and was weather related, I assumed it was another Weather Channel piggy back, and just went ahead and uninstalled that too.
So far today, though I’ve done very little browsing, I haven’t noticed that annoying pop up yet. So hopefully I’ve fixed it.
Sorry for the lengthy post. But just in case someone else has this problem, I hope it will help them out by my posting the details of my findings.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, January 31, 2014 - 6:49 pm
It is a good idea to keep both Malwarebytes and Spybot Search and Destroy on your computer AND keep them updated, because if you get a really bad trojan that gets around your anti-virus program, it will shut down a lot of stuff and not let you download OR update any malware killers. (says the voice of panicked experience)
And yes, Windows has started calling software "apps." I was trying to help a friend who had some major problem where all her "apps" disappeared. Turns out she had Windows 8, which calls the software "apps", and I couldn't even figure out how to get around the screens, much less figure out what she was talking about with the disappearing apps.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, January 31, 2014 - 8:32 pm
Juju2 - do you just use the free version of Malwarebytes or the pro version?
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Saturday, February 01, 2014 - 7:05 pm
Yes, free version works great. You just have to remember to update it yourself every now and then because new strains of bad stuff get created all the time, and if your definitions of what to look for are not up to date, Malwarebytes will not find the brand new malware. And, as I mentioned, many of the really bad infections are created with some sort of mechanism to not allow you to update your malware fighters. If you would rather it just automatically update itself, you want to use the pay version.
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Lycanthrope
Member
09-19-2002
| Saturday, February 01, 2014 - 8:57 pm
Whoami, that stuff has happened to me too. I go to Programs and Features in the Control Panel and look for things I didn't want or mean to download. I remove them, and my PC gets back to normal. I don't really understand how these programs get on my computer, but it has happened both at home and at work.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, February 02, 2014 - 11:37 am
Who - does Malwarebytes or Spybot really slow down your computer? My Internet is lagging like crazy today after I installed them.
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Sunday, February 02, 2014 - 12:16 pm
Teach, I had that issue with my computer because it was running in background all the time. While I can't tell you exactly how I did this, I deactivated it and would only reactivate it when I wanted to run to check for Malware.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, February 02, 2014 - 6:36 pm
Thanks, Kooklie. I did that as well. Neither one found anything on the initial scan, and I rarely have issues, so I don't mind turning them off.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Sunday, February 02, 2014 - 10:23 pm
Teach, if you installed the free versions, definitely turn them off. Now, I could be wrong about this, but in the past the free versions have always been after-the-fact spyware killers. You only turn them on after your anti-virus has failed to detect an intruder, and your machine is already infected.
Find "Run" on your computer (type it in the Search box), and then type msconfig in the box that comes up, then select Startup and look at what is checked to begin operating when you start up your computer. You can safely uncheck both of these programs if they show up.
There are also a lot of other thing you "can" uncheck, but be a bit careful about things that you have no good idea what they are, since you could accidentally turn off your touchpad or wifi. Do some Googling first if you get tempted to turn off things that you don't know what they are. If you see things like Windows Media Player and Word or Office in there, you can safely uncheck them, because you do not NEED them to get going on startup. If you need to use Word, you just go open it in the normal manner. You don't need to have it running in the background all the time, ready to go at a second's notice. You usually DO, however, need to use your wifi or touchpad at a moment's notice.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Monday, February 03, 2014 - 3:54 am
I've used CC Cleaner for forever, and they have a start-up tool that I already use. I turn off almost everything that isn't essential.  Thanks!
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Friday, February 14, 2014 - 12:41 pm
I am on internet explorer. Today it is just shutting itself off after a couple minutes. Is it my computer or the service?
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Friday, February 14, 2014 - 2:00 pm
What do you mean by shutting itself off, Dogdoc? Is explorer closing, becoming non-responsive or what? It may be your Internet service that is acting up. If they have a tech support line you might want to call and ask them about it.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Friday, February 14, 2014 - 4:05 pm
Thank you Jimmer, I am on line and suddenly I am back to a plain screen.
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Luvmom
Member
10-17-2000
| Monday, February 17, 2014 - 5:44 pm
Hi,
All of a sudden i go into my change adapter setting and my ethernet connection is missing. My wifi connection and bluetooth connections are there but my ethernet isn't. What could have happened and where can i find it? I want to connect to my wired but can't right now
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Rosie
Member
11-12-2003
| Tuesday, February 18, 2014 - 8:11 am
Luvmom, just wanted to let you know that I read your post but have no idea what you are saying. I am so out of this hi tech terminology.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, February 18, 2014 - 8:22 am
I'm not sure exactly what you mean as well but it sounds to me that is something that your internet service provider could help you with if you give them a call.
As a first step you could always try rebooting your modem (and router if you have a separate one). Just unplug the power on both, wait a minute, plug the modem back in, wait another couple of minutes, plug in the router (if it's not built into the modem) and wait another couple of minutes.
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